Breaking Away
by Saint2
Summary: My first fic. Set right after the S9 finale. Alternative S10 R/J all the way not for R/R fans. Plz R
1. The Aftermath

Breaking Away Chapter 1: The Aftermath  
  
Disclaimer: Yada yada I don't own any of these characters they belong to Bright Kauffman and Crane  
  
Premise: Set immediately after the S9 finale. An R/J fic with maybe other couplings ahead. Depends I haven't made up my mind.  
  
A/N: I don't want to turn into that writer that was so bad that a bunch of you writers rebelled against him. (Jean-Paul I think his name was) This is just a way to pass the time. If it's horrible, just let me know as nicely as possible.  
  
The knocking at the door shook Rachel out of her reverie. As she lifted herself from the bed, desperately trying to get control over herself, a control that she thought she wouldn't ever get back, the knocking became louder "Dammit, I'm coming" she yelled angrily. She definitely wasn't in the mood to speak to anyone right now. She reached the door and opened it.  
  
A powerful jolt surged through her body, a mixture of surprise, hope and regret, as she saw Joey standing in front of her. His eyes, so often filled with a mixture of conflicting emotions were clear. Hope and love burned through them. Without a word he drew her to him and gave her a searing kiss that electrified every nerve of her body. Reflexively her heads wrapped around his back, as his hands gently glided across her neck. The room began to fuzz around the edges as Rachel lost herself in the moment, all conflicting emotions gone. Joey kicked the door closed with his foot.  
  
The sound of the door closing shook Rachel out of the dreamlike trance she had been in. Without even realizing what she was doing she tore herself out of his embrace, backpedaling rapidly. Joey looked at her inquisitively. "What-what was that?" Rachel asked, her voice cracking slightly. Joey looked confused and then broke into a rueful smile. "Well Rach, if I have to tell you, then I guess my technique isn't what it used to be." Rachel blushed and said "What about Ross?" Joey again looked confused and then gradually his eyes darkened and look of reluctant understanding crossed his face. Rachel immediately realized what he was thinking, and rushed to say "I mean what made you change your mind." Joey's expression cleared. "I saw him kissing Charlie in the hotel lobby."  
  
"Oh" said Rachel. "Don't you see? That means I can be with you. Ross broke the code first, not me." With that Joey moved closer to Rachel and once again kissed her. Rachel struggled with her desire to give in to temptation and the knowledge that this blissful feeling wouldn't last. "Joey stop" she said, gently pushing him away. "What?" he asked. "I'm sorry-God you don't know how sorry I am- but honey, this won't work. It will shake up the entire group. Ross-""Why is it always about Ross? Why can't it just be about us for a change?" "Because of Emma." Rachel said simply.  
  
Joey realized she was right. The exact same expression of hurt and betrayal that was on his face was the exact same expression he had worn after he had revealed his feelings for Rachel last year. A mixture of hurt, betrayal and loss. And it broke Rachel's heart to know that just like last time; she was the cause of it. "Joey" Rachel started to say, reaching toward him. "No" Joey's voice softer than usual, a voice of a wounded animal, assaulted her. "Just don't" Joey fumbled for the doorknob, opened it and left. Rachel stood there, sobs cascading silently down her cheeks. She ran toward the open door, calling after Joey. But he ignored her and disappeared down the hallway toward the elevator. Rachel managed to close the door before she collapsed in sobs.  
  
A/N the second: Yeah Yeah I know not funny. Well it's mostly a drama but I'll try to interspace a comedic chapter in here and there. (Assuming you like it, of course) 


	2. The Aftermath Part 2

Breaking Away Chapter 2: The Aftermath Part 2  
  
Disclaimer: Still don't own any of these characters, and never will.  
  
Premise/Recap: This is set immediately after the Season 9 finale. In the previous chapter, Joey came back and kissed Rachel. She pulled away and said that their relationship would never work because of the effect it would on the rest of the group and Emma. Joey walked away heartbroken.  
  
A/N: Thanks for the positive feedback I've received thus far. Oh and one more thing. When Chandler dances, picture the dance he did when Monica told the others that he was the best sex she'd ever had  
  
Once again Joey walked away from Rachel after being rejected. Joey could hear Rachel's racking sobs echoing from her room, but forced himself to ignore them. She's right, you know. This potential situation with Rachel would be so much worse than Ross hooking up with Charlie. There was Emma to think about to. Joey's inner voice, the Judge Joey as he called it, whispered this in back of Joey's mind. However, though Judge Joey had won many of the inner battles on this trip, it was the other voice, Criminal Joey that won out. The message was simple. She rejected you again. You allowed yourself to hope that maybe it would happen and what did she do? She kicked you in the balls. For the moment, Criminal Joey's voice drowned out Judge Joey. As Joey stepped onto the elevator he considered his options. Though his mind was still a hazy mixture of hurt, pain, and anger, Joey realized that he needed to do something. And that something could not include breaking down into tears like the last time he was rejected. For once that trip his inner voices agreed. The only thing to do would be to get hammered. He considered going back to he and Charlie's room, but the thought of walking in on her and Ross and the resulting confrontation was definitely out of the question. The hotel bar Joey decided. Before he was shut down for the night, Judge Joey had one more thought. You left her sobbing alone in her room. With a violent shake of his head, Joey chased that thought out of his mind.  
  
As the elevator reached the lobby, Joey walked out his head down. He bumped into a body. "Excuse me" Joey mumbled and moved to get by. A hand on his shoulder stopped him. "Joey?" As Joey looked up he realized that the voice belonged to the last person he wanted to see at the moment. Ross. Ross had an anxious expression on his face. Joey thought that he would feel some sort of anger. After all, not only had this guy kissed his ex only hours after he had broken up with her, but he was the reason he wasn't making passionate love to Rachel right now. But Joey only felt a strange sense of weariness. "Hey Ross" he said in a monotone. "You look like some one kicked your dog." Ross said in a voice that was intended to sound casual, but which ended up sounding high-pitched. Despite his weary feeling, a sudden burst of anger rose white-hot in Joey. Criminal Joey had taken the stand. "Well" he said in a voice that sounded surprisingly casual. "I broke up with Charlie a few hours ago." Ross's face whitened and a look of profound regret came into his face. "R-Really" he said. "Yeah. I mean I couldn't really understand the stuff she would talk about. Triassic, Jurassic, Brontosauruses." "Apatosaurus" Ross corrected without thinking." "Yeah whatever, but I liked her. A lot." Ross looked stricken. "I kissed her, Joey" he said, almost in a whisper. "You what?" Joey barked out. However seeing the terrified expression on Ross's face, Joey decided to take pity. "It's-it's just we have so much in common. I don't exactly see very much beautiful paleontologists" "Yeah tell me about it" Joey muttered under his breath. "I like her, but I don't want to risk our friendship over her. I'll break it off." Ross said in an earnest voice. Joey shook his head. "No look man, it's okay. I'm glad it's you and not one of those other creepy diggers." "Paleontologists" Ross corrected him automatically. "Yeah whatever, the point is, it's okay. Go for it." Ross's normally hangdog face lit up. "Really?" "Yeah" Joey confirmed with a small smile. Ross started to move toward the elevator and then stopped, turning around "You want some company?" he asked. "No no" Joey said hurriedly. "I'll be fine. Just do me a favor" "Anything" Ross said. "Don't have sex at 8:00 tomorrow" "Um sure," Ross said with a weird expression on his face. "Because that's when I'll pick up my luggage. It's still in her room. And I've walked in on Chandler and Monica enough times; I don't want to walk in on you guys." "Okay sure." Ross said, heading toward the elevator. "And Joey?" he asked as the doors began to close." Thanks" Joey gave him a thumbs-up which he quickly turned into a thumbs-down when the doors closed. He continued to the bar, reflected that even though he had thought giving Ross his blessing would make him feel better, it actually made him feel worse, seeing Ross's regret and fear that he had jeopardized their friendship. Hypocrite Judge Joey's voice whispered at him. But then the image of Rachel rejecting him again, her voice shaking but steady, determined as she broke his heart into a million pieces once again pierced his brain and Joey no longer felt bad. With renewed haste, he made his way into the bar.  
  
"We rock, we rock, we're the best and we're not afraid to show it!" Monica's chant filled the hallway as she danced in front of Chandler. Chandler grinned. "Yeah we did, but Mon, try and keep it down." "Ha! Did you see the look on Mike's face when you blew that shot past him? Even Phoebe looked upset". Monica crowed, ignoring Chandler "Serves him right, thinking he could take on Team Gellar." "Hey!" said Chandler reflexively "Oh come on honey, Team Bing just sounds wrong." Chandler shook his head. "Okay Mon, not only do you look like Diana Ross, but you're also as loud as her. I don't think the guests are in the mood for a Diana Ross concert at- "he checked his watch "12:04 at night" "Come on baby" Monica said, moving closer to him. "If you let me enjoy my victory-""Our victory" Chandler corrected her. "Our victory" Monica continued "I'll you win in there." jerking her head toward the bedroom. "All hail Team Gellar, the best married ping-pong team in Barbados history" Chandler yelled out dancing down the hallway. Monica looked at his retreating form, shaking her head in pity. As she caught up to him at the door to their room she said "Honey, next time I'm in the mood and you're not-" "Like that has ever happened" Chandler scoffed. "Just do that dance and you won't have a problem" "You mean this dance?" Chandler asked, dancing ever more furiously than before. "Okay, if you want to have sex tonight, stop that right now." Chandler immediately stopped. As Monica opened the door, they both began to kiss. Just as they collapsed onto the bed, there was a loud noise from the room next to theirs. Monica sat up "What was that? It sounded like it came from Rachel's room" "Who cares, who cares" Chandler said hurriedly, reaching in to kiss her again. Seconds later, an even louder noise came from the room. "Stay right there Mr. Bing" said Monica, pointing a finger at Chandler as she moved toward the door.  
  
Monica opened the door and as she did, a very drunk Rachel who was leaning against it, fell into the room. A half-empty bottle of Jack Daniel's tumbled out of her hands and smashed on the carpet. "NOOO!" Monica yelled in horror as she immediately dropped to her knees in front of the rapidly- spreading puddle of whiskey on the floor. "Priorities, Mon, priorities" Chandler quickly said, gesturing to Rachel who was slumped against the bed. Reluctantly Monica went over to her. "Rach, you okay?" "I lost him. I had him and then I lost him again." Rachel said, her eyes closed 'Uh, it's okay Rach. I can get you a new Jack Daniel's. Although losing him on the clean hotel carpet in Monica's hotel room no less wasn't exactly the wisest choice." said Chandler in a reassuring voice. Annoyed, Monica turned to him "Chandler, remember when I told you that sometimes you don't talk in this marriage? Remember that!" "Sorry, sorry bossy lady" Chandler muttered, lying on the bed again. "I heard that" Monica said. "Listen, honey, are you talking about Joey?" she asked Rachel. Miserably Rachel nodded. "He kissed me after I told him I liked him and then I rejected him. Again. My life sucks." "Wait. You like Joey" Chandler asked in disbelief. Rachel nodded. "And you knew about this?" Chandler demanded of Monica. "Chandler, please. Priorities" said Monica in an overly loud voice. "What about Charlie?" Chandler asked. "She kissed the bone man." said Rachel. "Ross?" asked Monica. "Yep, the bone man" Rachel confirmed nodding her heard rapidly. Then she laughed. "The bone man, the bone man" she chanted. "My god, I feel like I walked into one of those teenage soap operas. Like Dawson's Creek." said Chandler in an amazed tone of voice "How do you know about Dawson's Creek" asked Monica. Chandler immediately tried to change the subject "Rach, how deep are your feelings toward Joey?" "This deep" said Rachel holding her hands about an inch apart. No this deep" she quickly corrected herself, unsteadily getting to her feet and holding her hand to her head. From here to the floor." Rachel paused for a moment, wavering slightly on her feet, "I want with him what you guys have. But it doesn't matter. I broke his heart again and this time he's not going to come back" Chandler and Monica exchanged surprised glances. "Rach" said Monica carefully "Do you mean you love him?" Rachel nodded vigorously "I love him like you love your Bing-a-ling." Rachel's face twisted into a smile and she suddenly emitted a machine-gun laugh reminiscent of Janice's. "Oh god, oh god" Chandler moaned, holding his hands to his head. "Only thing worse than Janice is a drunk Janice wannabe" Monica shook her head at Chandler. "Are you going to be okay Rach?" she asked worriedly "No" said Rachel "I won't" Suddenly her face became a sickly green colour. She leaned over and vomited on the bed. With that, she toppled to the floor, passed out. About ten minutes later, Monica passed through the connecting door into Rachel's room where Chandler stood anxiously. "Is she okay?" "I don't know. I've never seen her like this. Not even when she broke up with Ross" "The first or the second time?" asked Chandler. Monica regarded him "Not now okay honey. Be funny tomorrow. Not today. I need to sleep" "Um, well, apparently Rachel has a thing for vomiting on beds." said Chandler in a resigned tone of voice. "You have GOT to be kidding me" said Monica. Wordlessly Chandler shook his head. "Dammit, the floor it is." said Monica, lying on the floor "Night Ms. Ross" said Chandler a few minutes later. "Night Mr. Teenage Soap Opera Fan" said Monica sleepily. In the darkness Chandler shook his head.  
  
In the surprisingly-empty bar, Joey nursed his third glass of Jack Daniel's that night. He stared vacantly into the amber liquid, his mind still going over the heartbreaking events in Rachel's hotel room. "Joey??" said a surprised female voice Joey turned and his mouth fell open when he saw who it was "Janine??" 


	3. The Return Home

Breaking Away Chapter 3 The Return Home  
  
A/N: First of all, Janine, for you who don't remember her is that dancer from Season 6. She was played by Elle McPherson on the show. Also I'm a bit worried at the few reviews I've gotten. If you like this fanfic or hate it, PLEASE send me your review. Otherwise I'll discontinue this. So please send me feedback. I enjoy writing this and I want to know whether you enjoy it too  
  
Disclaimer: Once again I don't own any of this show  
  
"Janine?" Joey asked in disbelief "What are you doing here?" Janine gracefully slipped onto the bar stool next to Joey. "Well it was supposed to be my honeymoon. I married this guy named Bill a few days ago. I think you know him". "I do?" asked Joey doubtfully. "Yeah I think so; he was at that New Year's Eve thing we went to a few years ago. You know, tan pants guy." Joey looked puzzled for a minute, and then his expression cleared as he remembered. "Yeah the guy who peed himself. I remember. Wait a sec, you married that guy? Why would you do that? Never trust a man who wets himself." Janine giggled. "You know, I should have remembered that." Joey grinned and then said "Wasn't he married?" Janine shook his head disgustedly "Yeah he sure was. He left his wife and proposed to me. Like an idiot I accepted only to find on my wedding day that apparently he was willing to work things out with his wife." She winced as she said this and gestured at the bartender for a drink. "Screwdriver please" After the bartender poured it, Janine continued with her story. "I figured what the hell, might as well come here. Better to be depressed in a tropical location than in New York." Janine said wryly waving her hand at the sheets of rain lashing the windows. "Apparently there's a storm going on. Go figure. Just my luck" Janine realized she hadn't asked how Joey was doing "Oh my god, I talked about myself for the past five minutes, I'm sorry Joey. How you doing and what are are you doing here." Joey chose to answer the last question first. "My friend is giving a lecture about, well, I don't really know, but it's something boring. He flew us all down here for a vacation." "That's nice" said Janine "And how are you doing? Any special women in your life.?" Joey choked out a bitter laugh. "You have no idea" "Uh oh" said Janine, turning to face him. She put her hand on Joey's knee. "This sounds troubling. Come on tell me, I need to hear someone else's misery for a change. Come on, dish" "I wouldn't even know where to start" said Joey forlornly. "Start at the beginning" Joey took a deep breath and began "There's this girl"  
  
The Next Morning.  
  
"Wake up Wake up Wake up!" yelled Monica in Chandler's ear. "Mmmmm" groaned Chandler, clutching his pillow tightly. "Come on" Monica kicked Chandler in the groin. "Mmmm, Monica, not now, I'm too tired." said Chandler, still clutching his pillow. Monica kicked him again harder in the same place. "Oww!" yelped Chandler, grabbing himself. He balefully eyed Monica "Why did you do that??" "You needed to wake up" "Isn't there more pleasant ways to wake me up?" "Not now honey" said Monica "We need to leave right now." Chandler groggily stretched "What's the rush?" "That" said Monica pointing at the soiled bed. "We gotta get outta here before the bellboy comes and sees this." "Is Rachel up?" "Yeah" said Monica, "She's in the bathroom taking a badly, badly-needed shower" Hurriedly they packed and vacated the room. Monica hung the Do Not Disturb sign on both doorknobs. "This way they won't come in until hopefully we're at the airport." "You know they're going to figure it out eventually and bill us for the cleaning costs." Chandler told Monica. "Yes but when they do that, we won't be here. Therefore they will have no evidence. Plausible deniability baby" Chandler stared at Monica as if seeing for the first time "You amaze me every day." "I know!" said Monica. As they walked down the hallway, they both sneaked glances as Rachel whose eyes were shielded by a pair of black sunglasses. After glancing at Chandler, Monica carefully asked "Rach? How are you feeling?" "Well considering I have the mother of all hangovers and yet I feel like I deserve so much worse for the incredibly stupid, irreversible thing I did last night, I feel just peachy Mon" "I'm sorry I asked" said Monica, offended. As they met the others in the lobby, they noticed Joey who was sporting a ridiculous pair of sunglasses with palm trees on the sides. "Gee Joey" said Ross "Love the shades" "Yeah well they were the last pair in the gift shop." said Joey tightly trying not to look at Rachel. Phoebe glanced from Joey to Rachel. "Hangovers right?" "Something like that" said Joey. As they journeyed to the airport, as they waited for their flight, Joey and Rachel exchanged no words, only stolen glances. As they boarded their flight, they realized there were sitting next to each other. "Listen man" said Joey to Chandler "Can I trade seats with you.?" "You know, you're gonna have to talk to her eventually." "Yeah, but not now. It hurts too much." Chandler nodded and with an apologetic look at Rachel sat down beside. "He doesn't even look at me anymore" said Rachel, breaking down into tears. "He'll come around" said Chandler hugging her. Monica and Chandler exchanged worried glances at the emotional states of the two people sitting beside each other.  
  
Joey moved to take a whiz in the airplane washroom. Suddenly the door swung open and Rachel stood there. Awkwardly Joey moved away to l, et her pass, not looking at her. "Listen Joey" began Rachel. "No" said Joey intenselybrushing past her into the washroom, leaving Rachel standing there miserably  
  
A/N the second: I repeat my earlier demand for feedback. Please, please Rand R 


	4. The Unexpectated

Breaking Away Chapter 4: Forgiveness  
  
A/N: Hey I'm back!! I figured that I might as well try to continue this. I've had a really busy couple of months, but things are starting to settle down now. In case my devoted readers (heh heh) have forgotten; this is a straight-up angsty Rachel/Joey fic. It picks up right after the S9 finale in Barbados. Joey kissed Rachel, Rachel pushed him away and the result was more angst. A wrinkle showed up in Chapter 3, in the form of Janine. Hopefully the background has been filled in. Unfortunately due to some unexplained reason, the text in Chapter 3 was messed up. It might happen again, so if anyone knows why and how to fix it, please share.  
  
"Well thank god that trip's over!" said Monica in relief as they entered her apartment. "Leave it to our friends to create drama everywhere they go." Chandler agreed, sighing. "This trip was worse than the one where Ross got married." "Which time?" asked Monica with a slight chuckle. "Yeah, you know, we might actually have the most normal love lives of all our friends. Except for Phoebe of course" Chandler mused. "Yeah you're right" Monica agreed. "Oh well, let's unpack. Come on" she said jerking her head toward the bedrooms. "All right" said Chandler excitedly. Monica rolled her eyes. "Strictly unpacking, Mr. Bing, strictly unpacking. It's better than sex!" Chandler looked hurt "Except the sex with you, honey" Monica quickly said, walking to the bedroom "And Richard" she added "Okay stop talking now" Chandler said forcefully.  
  
Rachel warily eyed Joey's room where he had been since they had arrived four hours ago. The oven timer dinged, startling her. Joey's door swung open and Joey walked to the Baracalounger. Rachel watched him inquisitively. The television flicked to life and the screen was filled with running female lifeguards. Rachel rolled her eyes and then determinedly started out for the chair, vowing to make Joey talk to her. She stepped in front of the television, blocking his view. "Joey, honey, I think we need to talk" Joey wordlessly shook his head "Come on Joey, we live together" "Not for much longer" Joey said in a flat voice. 'What?" asked Rachel, taken aback. "I'm really sorry, but living with you would be too hard for me. I talked to Estelle and she says she can get me a part on this Broadway play. Maybe. There might be tap-dancing involved, so maybe not. In any case, I also spoke to Charlie." "You did?" asked Rachel tightly, "Before or after she broke up with you?" "After" said Joey simply. "She felt guilty or something. Anyways, the point is that she knows of this apartment with incredible rent right downtown. It's really close to Broadway and Estelle's office. I'll probably move there in like a couple of weeks. Until then, I'm thinking I'll stay with my mom in Queens" Rachel swallowed hard "Joey" she swallowed again to keep her voice under control "What about me" "You can stay here for as long as you want" Joey quickly said,  
  
"I'll pay for my share of the rent for however long you want me to" With that Joey got up from his chair and walked back to the bedroom. Rachel stood there in shock for what felt forever.  
  
There was a knock at Monica's door. Chandler opened the door to find Rachel with a blanket wrapped around her. "Can I sleep here tonight?" she asked. Wordlessly Chandler nodded, leading her to the couch. As he tucked her in, Rachel, for what felt like the millionth time in the last few days, began to sob. Silently, Chandler held her as his plaid housecoat turned wet from Rachel's tears 


End file.
